Building better communications

On an unusually snowy October afternoon, GRID-Arendal Experts Paige and Guen started their journey from Arendal, Norway towards the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan. Their goal? Participate in the first in-person meeting of the Central Asian Mammals and Climate Adaptation (CAMCA) project and deliver an intensive communications training module to the project partners. 

The Central Asian Mammals and Climate Adaptation (CAMCA) project is working with communities and governments in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to increase the resilience of 6 flagship mountain species – snow leopard, argali, Central Asian ibex, Tien Shan maral, Bukhara deer, Himalayan brown bear – and associated ecosystems to climate change and other threats.

This was the first time that the project partners were able to meet since the start of the project due to external factors like the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite these setbacks, the project partners have been able to forge ahead with project activities. Our hosts, Association of Biodiversity Conservation of Kazakhstan (ACBK), welcomed the Ilbirs Foundation and CAMP Alatoo from Kyrgyzstan, and CAMP Tabiat and Tajikistan Nature Foundation from Tajikistan. WWF-US, Vesmirmiy fond Prirody (VFP), the Regional Mountain Center of Central Asia (RMCCA), and colleagues from the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) were also in attendance. For more information, check our our partners page!

Something special happens when such a large and diverse group of people gather. Differences melt away as we converge on our task – reviewing the project activities so far, celebrating the accomplishments, and preparing for the year ahead. For those of us working in communications, this also meant ensuring that the content of the planned workshop was as tailored as possible. This meant asking questions and clarifying what the goals were when it came to communicating the project’s activities. Paige and Guen spent time revising their workshop plan between sessions and tweaking the content based on time constraints and focusing on what the project partners need.

Friday morning, the last day of the project meeting, was an early start! The session started with a wrap-up of the previous day’s presentations and discussions. After participants grabbed coffee and settled into their seats, we were ready to begin! 

The communications workshop organised by GRID-Arendal – titled “Building better communications” – kicked off with two main goals:  

The first was finalising the partners’ communications plans for 2024 and setting up SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals. The goals in a project like this often focus on influencing and better informing decision-makers who sign off on legislation and policies covering national, regional, and local levels, land management plans, and impact the livelihoods of those living in these mountain areas.  

The second goal was mapping out the partners’ communication capacity needs. This included more practical skills, whether it was learning how to record interviews or writing a press release. But it also meant looking at effective internal and external communication with others, such as sharing data between partners or presenting the project to promote it at events.

One key issue identified by several partners was that while legislation exists on paper that safeguards and manages areas inhabited by CAMCA species, in practice this isn’t often enforced. In some cases, this is due to the way in which we communicate, or the medium, which makes  information difficult to access and understand. This is where creative communication outputs can play a vital role. In the CAMCA project, partners are working to educate and collaborate with locals living both in and around protected areas, through activities such as workshops, exhibitions, teacher training, and providing information through more familiar channels in new ways. 

After the session was over, participants gathered onto busses for a short excursion to Shymbulak, a mountainous area near Almaty and home to the largest ski resort in Central Asia. There, we were able to put into practice several skills covered during the workshop, such as recording video for social media and interviewing each other. Participants caught a glimpse of several bird species including hawks, eagles, and even a bearded vulture, circling over the high peaks.  

This meeting was just the beginning of the communication work for the CAMCA project, as partners will continue to work with GRID-Arendal on their communication plans and focus on preparing rich content for the coming year. We’re excited to see how the project develops in 2024 and want to thank all partners for their enthusiasm as we build better communications together!

The goal of the CAMCA project is to contribute to increased climate change resilience of wildlife and people and to achieve greater conservation of biodiversity by:  

• Providing technical assistance, advice and knowledge to improve the understanding of climate change vulnerability of flagship species, their habitats and vulnerability to climate change-related drivers;  
• Developing and testing participatory tools and methods for ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and climate change-informed wildlife management;  
• Establishing incentives for EbA and climate change-informed wildlife management to ensure long-term sustainability; and  
• Communicating and raising awareness about the options and benefits of EbA and climate change-informed wildlife management  

Through its activities, CAMCA aims to:  

• Encourage the long-term conservation of important habitats and species, maintaining or increasing the natural capital / natural wealth of these ecosystems;  
• Generate knowledge about potential impacts of climate change on existing protected area networks;   
• Develop climate change-informed tools and enhance the resilience of both ecosystems and livelihoods, including to climate related shocks; and  
• Contribute to the social, political, and economic empowerment of local communities through strengthened community-based, sustainable, and climate change-informed wildlife and pasture management and opportunities for more stable incomes in communities (e.g., ecotourism, sustainable hunting).